TURIN. Stellantis reorganizes the financial branch to rationalize the presence of different subjects from FCA and PSA. The reorganization involves the creation of a multi-brand leasing operating company in which Stellantis and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance each hold a 50% stake, resulting from the merger of the activities of Leasys (314,000 vehicles managed at the end of 2020), a subsidiary of FCA Bank and market leader in Italy, and Free2Move Lease (369,000 vehicles managed at the end of 2020), a rental company that has historically dealt with the PSA brands. In addition, the financing activities for the purchase of all the Stellantis brands will be reorganized, through joint ventures set up with Bnpp Pf or Santander Consumer Finance (Scf) in the various European countries.
“Following the recent completion of the acquisition of First Investors Financial Services Group in the United States – comments Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis – we reaffirm our desire to further strengthen our global financing business, taking a further step forward in Europe with partners long-time banking and creating a full-fledged leasing company in Europe. This is a strategic move to exploit our financial performance, in all European countries ». This transformation, managed with leading partners, according to the Portuguese manager, would allow Stellantis to offer a full range of products to all its customers, resellers and brands.
“Our group – explains Stéphane Priami, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole and CEO of CA Consumer Finance – intends to ensure that this operation allows us to keep jobs within the new FCA Bank in all locations, preserving around 2,400 jobs, of which 600 in Italy, and giving these employees positive development prospects. In fact, we intend to rely heavily on FCA Bank’s current management and staff, who have been at the center of its development and best performance in recent years, to develop the platform and successfully execute its ambitious new strategy “.
FCA Bank will change its name and should be based in Turin. The transaction comes after FCA and Credit Agricole have jointly developed an important player in car financing over the past 15 years: FCA Bank, their 50/50 joint venture. Following the merger between FCA and PSA, the two companies have decided to evolve this partnership and create a new pan-European leader in operating leasing. CA Consumer Finance will acquire 100% of the capital of FCA Bank and Leasys Rent, with the aim of launching a new European-level player active in car financing, rental and mobility. CA Consumer Finance and Stellantis will form a pan-European rental company by merging Leasys and Free2Move Lease. This exclusive partnership would quickly become one of the top 5 operators in Europe. The two partners have the ambition to develop a fleet of more than one million vehicles by the end of 2026.
In parallel, CA Consumer Finance will launch a new European-level player active in the car financing, rental and mobility sectors, taking full control of FCA Bank and Leasys Rent. This new player would have three main areas of development: the consolidation of the white label agreements and joint ventures currently managed by FCA Bank, and the acquisition of new ones; the pursuit of new agreements with all the other market players (dealerships, distribution groups, rental companies, etc.) in sectors ranging from automotive, motor vehicles, commercial vehicles and so on; the short-term rental, subscription and mobility activities currently managed in Europe by the Leasys Rent brand through more than 500 Mobility Stores, all equipped with electric charging stations.
CA Consumer Finance aims to make this company a major player in Europe, with an expected outstanding of € 10 billion by 2026.